


only a piece of paper

by clickingkeyboards



Category: Murder Most Unladylike Series - Robin Stevens
Genre: F/F, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:02:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28617012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clickingkeyboards/pseuds/clickingkeyboards
Summary: Do you want to marry me?In her quest to save the world, Daisy Wells is determined to go on a particularly dangerous spy mission to Russia. When her superior tells her that she either has to get permission from her next of kin (her fussy brother who would never allow it), turn fifty (as much as she likes to pretend that she can do everything, she can't speed up the ageing process), or seek permission from her spouse, she comes to the only logical conclusion: get married.Her only single friend is Amina El Maghrabi, with whom Daisy is a little bit in love.But that shouldn't pose a problem - it's only a piece of paper, after all.
Relationships: Amina El Maghrabi/Daisy Wells
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	only a piece of paper

_ Do you want to marry me? _

_ I just got back from a meeting about my possible missions and they said that they can’t allow me to sign up to particularly dangerous missions unless I turn 50, have permission from my next of kin (Bertie), or get married and have my spouse vouch for me. _

_ So I have to get married. _

Amina stared at her phone for longer than strictly necessary, and then deleted her response of,  _ are you mad? _

_ Yeah okay I'll marry you, I need a better uni application anyway. _

Daisy’s response was there in an instant.  _ Oh my god, I love you. Are we actually doing this? The mission I’ll be able to go on is in a month so we’ll have to be fast. _

_ Let me check, _ she replied, feeling her heart pick up inside her check and warmth bubbling across her cheeks. It was a light, dizzy feeling, pulling a prank and being gone over somebody tied together in a knot inside her chest. “Kitty, can you look up how much a marriage licence is?”

Kitty turned her head sharply, and Amina could almost hear the sound of her latching onto gossip. “Why?”

“I’ll tell you later!” she replied, leaning forward to look at Kitty’s laptop and taking care to turn off her phone with the same motion. “Okay so you need to pay a fee, it says.”

She was about to turn back to her phone when Kitty snapped her fingers. “Not so fast. It’s usually thirty-five quid per person, but it’s forty-seven if either of you are from outside Europe.”

“Forty-seven, then,” she said, and turned back to her phone. “You know, Egypt.”

“It’s  _ you _ who needs a marriage licence?!” With a gasp, Kitty grabbed for her phone.

Jumping up to sit on top of Kitty’s cabinet, she held her phone out of reach. “Nope!”

_ £47 I think, that’s to give notice. Alexander’s an ordained minister, isn’t he? _

_ Yeah, _ Daisy replied.  _ But he’s the youngest of the lot of us, he’s not eighteen until the end of August. Idk if he could actually marry us, he’s small. _

Laughing, Amina said,  _ ‘small’, he’s seventeen. If we do this quickly I can put this on my Oxford application. Registry office? _

_ Good idea! What about splitting up, then? _

With a heavy heart, Amina picked at her nails before taking a deep breath and responding.  _ Stage a fight?  _ Of course, it was just for Daisy’s work.

_ I’ve heard that, if one person commits adultery, that’s grounds for a quicker divorce. Don’t ask why I know that. _

Feeling that the answer to that would be Daisy’s parents, she didn’t question it.  _ I could snog Kitty or something? I’m sure Beanie wouldn’t mind. _

_ Fuck off, you know she would /lh,  _ was the response, and Amina had to laugh around the ball of emotions in her throat.

Opening up the divorce form that had popped up on google, she scrolled down the list and swapped back to her texts.  _ This example divorce form says that ‘irretrievable breakdown’ of marriage is an option. So yeah, one of us cheating would work. _

_ We could just say it’s not working out!  _ Daisy responded, ever the realist.  _ Fuck, divorce costs a lot. Bertie gets notified if I make a major withdrawal from the accounts because he controls them, fucking parents. _

“Kitty, can you google how much divorce costs?” Amina asked, hopping down from her perch on the cabinet. “ _Don’t_ ask me why, I’ll tell you in a minute.”

“Bossy,” she muttered, but she searched the question as she was asked. “Oh, wow, um… a lot, but it’s mostly legal fees.”

“So if you don’t have any kids, joint assets, or property to split…”

Rolling her eyes and wondering what Amina was planning, she said, “Fifty hundred and fifty quid, to file for it. Out of pocket for Daisy, that’s nothing.”

Amina was about to pick up her phone again when something occurred to her. “How did you work out that it’s Daisy?”

“I’m not entirely stupid, Amina.” Looking away from her laptop, she said, “You’re getting married to… appease your parents?”

“I… it’s not…”

“Look, you don’t have to be prude about it!” She pulled her legs up against her chest and smiled a broad smile. “Can’t  _ believe _ you wouldn’t tell us you were together! There’s been bets on you since Deepdean, you know.”

Feeling rather like she had forgotten how to speak English, Amina could only stutter out nonsensical noises.  _ They think we’re together? _

* * *

“Hello, Daisy!” Hazel called out, flouncing into the flat and casting down her jacket on the sofa in the way that Felix hated. “Did you ask Bertie about that thing with the Russia mission?”

“What? No, he’d definitely refuse  _ and  _ tell Uncle Felix, and he’d bar me from those missions for life! No, I’m getting married instead.”

Hazel almost dropped her thermos flask and had to steady it with her other hand. “You’re... what?”

“I asked Amina and she said yes.”

Giving her best friend a look, she said softly, “You ought to have told me, you know. That you’re dating Amina. I wouldn’t have minded. You’re the one who made that awful fuss over Alexander, you silly thing.”

“I… of course.” She smiled up at Hazel, trying to act like her mind wasn’t turning whirling somersaults inside her head.

“How did you ask her?”

Looking down at her phone, Daisy said, “Over text.”

“Daisy!” Hazel scolded, looking scandalised. “I hope you’ll propose to her properly one day, that’s a horrid way to do it!”

“I… obviously.”

With another one of her famous  _ Daisy, you’re being obtuse _ looks, Hazel walked over to the sofa and leant down to kiss her on the cheek. “I’m seeing Alexander tonight and I have to get ready. Love you, Daisy.”

“Love you, too, Hazel,” she said absently, feeling incredibly dizzy and a little sick. “Um… Hazel?”

“Yes?”

Deciding that she couldn’t blurt it there and then, that she wasn’t dating Amina, she instead called out, “Remember to wear your new perfume!”

“Oh, I will!”

Daisy smiled down at her lap. It wouldn’t hurt to pretend for a little longer, that she and Amina were getting married for love.


End file.
